It may be only June, but fashion week has come and gone and that can only mean one thing: the trends for this fall are hitting the market! Come August you'll start to notice the shift in trends from spring/summer into fall/winter and I can not wait! The color palette is inspired by cool tones, jewels, sepias, and neutrals. The textures play with metallic against mattes, and the skin is velvety. Lips are red and lashes are barely there. This upcoming season is all about picking a feature and amplifying it, then softly building the rest of your makeup around it. Whether it's a strong brow, geometric liner, or intense contour, this season will put a masculine spin on feminine beauty makeup.

Jewel tones seem to make a comeback every winter, but this season the placement is different. Try mixing up the way you apply your eyeshadow and go outside of the box with where you place color. Mix matte and metallic textures, and skip a brow highlight. Light washes of shadow are leading this season's styles vs. high impact intense color

Red lips are a classic look that you can't go wrong with. The modern spin on this season's red lip is to pair it with a truly nude eye; think "no makeup makeup!" Skip on loading up on the mascara, and if you can't live without it try only applying it to the top lashes. Apply a wine or burgundy colored stain if bright red is too intense!

Graphic eyeliner gets more geometric this season. Instead of a classic winged out liner this look is more about adding structure and architecture to the face. Not quite the classic look of winged eyeliner, this is definitely more of a statement.

Brows are fuller and darker this season. Skip the tweezers and grab some clear brow gel! A fuller brow is youthful, but still strong.This season's contouring and highlighting has moved on from bronzed and glowy to cool and velvety. Creamier textures in cool browns are replacing warm bronzers, and highlights are less shimmery and more subtle. The look is all about playing with the natural shadows of the face to give depth and shape.

Although runway makeup is beautiful, it isn't the most wearable. Take this season's trends and customize them to fit your lifestyle! Work with products you have, perhaps applying them with a new technique or placing them differently. You'll be surprised with what you end up with! Don't be afraid to be a little messy or make a mistake. Makeup isn't supposed to be perfect and clean.

Let's face it, not everyone wants to tote around a makeup bag with 50 different products in it, it's just not practical. So today I gave myself a challenge: Create a polished makeup look using as few products as possible. Here's the before, after, and products I chose:

Woof!

I went with a natural/neutral color scheme and kept the coverage pretty sheer. I applied Prep & Prime skin beforehand to enhance the wear of the makeup and give a mild amount of moisture to the skin. For foundation I chose Face & Body foundation, which is great for a light, natural coverage. I skipped powder today in order to leave more of a shine to the skin, and went over the high planes of my face with Pearl Cream Colour Base to bring out the highlights. Nars Laguna bronzer was my contour, which I also used as a crease color instead of an eyeshadow. For the eyes I used Painterly Paint Pot, two limited edition shadows in neautral tones, and fascinating eye kohl. White eye kohl is a necessity for any natural/neutral makeup look! It opens the eye and cancels out any redness on the the water line! I filled in my brows with Dirty Blonde brow pencil and finished with mascara. The Paint Pot doubled as an under eye concealer; and I used Keep It Loose Casual Colour on my cheeks and lips! Ta-Da! Quick, low maintenece makeup!

My first client today was on her way to have her engagement photos taken, and I jumped on the opportunity to take a few photos of my own! Clearly I'm not a photographer, but here are her before and after photos:

I'm a total sucker for beauty makeup, especially bridal makeup. On Janette we decided to go with light brown shades on the eyes, and keep the lashes and skin the main focus. I used #4 lashes from MAC, which are great for brides! They are natural, but still elegant and sexy.

We kept her foundation light and matte. Satin textures photograph beautifully, but for a beach shoot in Florida we needed as much shine control as possible! I used one sheer coat of prolongwear concealer as a foundation and Prep & Prime highlighter under the eyes and on the high planes of her face. I finished off the skin with a light dusting of mineral powder.For cheek color I used Keep It Loose causual colour from MAC. These are AMAZING cream blushes that double as a lip color. Not only are they convenient, but they are practical and simple to use. Creamy products always look nice in photos, and they give the skin a nice glow without being too shiny.On her lips I used Modesty lipstick, Nice N' Spicy Prolongwear Lipliner, and Big Baby Plushglass.I can't wait to see the professional photos!

Howdy y'all! Here's yesterday's makeup of the day. I decided to follow my previous post with one of my favorite smokey eye combinations.

First, I applied a dark base all over the lid; I used Blitz & Glitz Fluidline from MAC. Then I packed Bronze eyeshadow onto the lid with a shading brush like the 239. Next, I blended Charcoal Brown eyeshadow into the crease with a 217 brush. This step is key because it gives the smokey eye a blended effect. Finish it off with your favorite brow highlight, eyeliner, and and a few coats of mascara!I contoured my face with a 109 brush and Dark mineral powder. Follow the hollows of your face. The point of this is to play with light and shadow! Wherever your face sinks in is where you want to apply your contour; I.E: under your cheekbones, temples, jawline, etc... On the cheeks I applied Peaches blush, and Pearl cream colour base as a highlight.

The good ole' smokey eye. Everyone wants it, everyone wants to learn how to achieve it. Here's the issue: A smokey eye is not any one look, it's a style. We tend to run into a bit of confusion when it comes to each individual's opinion of what defines a smokey eye. Personally, I would consider a smokey eye to be the image on the right...However; a majority of my clients would consider the look on the left to be more of what they were looking for.Essentially, in my opinion, a smokey eye is any makeup application in which a darker shade is applied to the lid and blended upwards into a lighter shade. Thus giving a "smoke cloud" effect.

Editorial style dark smokey eye

Wearable blue/grey smokey eye

Clearly the second image is more wearable than the first, but you get the idea. Achieving a smokey eye is more about color placement than anything. Whatever colors you choose, you want to focus the darkest color close to the lash line and fade upwards towards the brow, where you will apply the lightest shade.

So why such confusion? I have noticed a lot of people confusing a smokey eye with a contoured eye. Although a contoured eye photographs beautifully, and makes the eye appear larger and elongated, it isn't necessarily smokey.

Light contoured eye with winged liner

Contoured eye with grey on the outer corner

If the look of a contoured eye is more your style then the color placement will be quite different from that of a smokey eye. The key is to focus the lightest shades on the inner corner of the eye and the darkest shades in the crease and outer third portions of the eyelid.

So next time you guys are out shopping for makeup you know what to ask for! And whether you go for more of a smokey or contoured look, the color palette is up to you!